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Utah Jazz Week Twenty Outlook, Predictions

Jared Woodcox|
Mar 5, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) celebrates with teammates after the win against the Sacramento Kings during the overtime period at Golden 1 Center. The Utah Jazz defeated the Sacramento Kings 110-109 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 5, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) celebrates with teammates after the win against the Sacramento Kings during the overtime period at Golden 1 Center. The Utah Jazz defeated the Sacramento Kings 110-109 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
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Feb 8, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) shoots over New Orleans Pelicans guard E’Twaun Moore (55) and guard Jrue Holiday (11) and forward Anthony Davis (23) during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 8, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) shoots over New Orleans Pelicans guard E’Twaun Moore (55) and guard Jrue Holiday (11) and forward Anthony Davis (23) during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

3/6 Utah vs. New Orleans

7:00 pm MT – Root Sports/League Pass

Opponent record: 25-38

Season series: Jazz lead 1-0

Most of the buzz surrounding New Orleans of late has unsurprisingly had to do with their incredible acquisition of DeMarcus Cousins just before the trade deadline. Although the Pelicans have yet to figure out how to thrive with him and Anthony Davis on the court together, it’s a frontcourt duo that truly could become potent at some point in the near future.

Earlier this morning, I previewed Utah’s match-up against the Pelicans, so to avoid beating a dead horse, I’ve provided a link to that piece here and will simply cover the highlights below.

The good news is that the Jazz thoroughly dominated the Pelicans the last time these two teams faced off, although that was obviously prior to the Cousins trade. Also, the Jazz enjoy favorable match-ups across the board as Gobert has been able to keep Cousins in check and Favors has done a commendable job against Davis.

Furthermore, the Pelicans depth and bench certainly leaves a lot to be desired. As long as Utah can contain New Orleans’ front line, they shouldn’t have too much trouble with the rest of the team.

However, the Jazz have been irritatingly inconsistent of late and certainly didn’t play like a team deserving of the fourth seed in the West last week, so they’ll need to step it up considerably if they hope to defeat the Pelicans.

Unfortunately Utah also hasn’t seemed to perform well when playing at home immediately after a road stop (see the recent loss against Minnesota if you need any further proof of that), but hopefully the fact that the Pelicans are also coming off of a back-to-back will help to counterbalance that.

All things considered, I could see this game going either way. Nevertheless, when looking at New Orleans’ struggles so far with implementing Cousins as well as Utah’s favorable match-ups practically across the board, I feel comfortable giving them a slight edge in this one which will likely be a hard-fought battle to the finish.

My Prediction: Jazz Win

Final Score: Utah 103, New Orleans 101

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